Best Board Games for iPhone and iPad like Monopoly and Catan

Apps in this Guide

Ticket to Ride

Learn More

Catan

Learn More

Monopoly Here & Now

Learn More

Carcassonne

Learn More

Splendor

Learn More

Agricola

Learn More

D&D Lords of Waterdeep

Learn More

Our best board games, not surprisingly, include Monopoly, one of the most popular family board games of all time. But the "Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game" is just one of the popular board gamesmore

Our best board games, not surprisingly, include Monopoly, one of the most popular family board games of all time. But the "Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game" is just one of the popular board games that made our list. Our picks for the best board games for kids and best board games for adults have you embarking on railway adventures, settling uncharted lands, constructing medieval landscapes, running a jewelry business, growing an agricultural empire, or maintaining control of a fictional city called Waterdeep.

(Credit: James Steidl, Shutterstock / James Steidl)

Best Board Games for iPhone and iPad

Ticket to Ride

From ticketed passengers to train hoppers, the allure of a railway adventure drew many during the golden age of railroads. The success of the Ticket To Ride board game, released in 2004, and the iPhone version, which came out in 2011, proves that our locomotive lust hasn't ground to a halt yet. In Ticket to Ride for iOS, you attempt to amass a collection of wagons, and, in turn, the railways connecting various U.S. cities, till you achieve an impressive railway network. Play alone or against others for $8.99, but if you want to expand your horizons, then eight additional maps and two mini-expansions, with a couple of game variations each, are available as in-app purchases.

Catan

In Catan, based on the 1995 multiplayer strategy board game, players settle the uncharted land called Catan, trade each other resources, and race to acquire the most settlements, longest roads, and biggest army. Play for $4.99 or add expansions, including "Seafarers," with 10 more scenarios and islands to settle; "Cities and Knights," which includes seven additional maps and the ability to grow metropolises and two new special scenarios; "Enchanted Land"; and "The Great Canal," with in-app purchases.

Monopoly Here & Now

Monopoly, first released by Parker Brothers in 1935, has players fighting for control over East Coast properties with the aspiration of developing them with houses and hotels that they can then charge opponents rent for and, in so doing, drive them to the poor house. The Monopoly Here & Now edition board game takes the game global, enabling you to play your way around the globe with a dynamic 3D board and game pieces that bounce from one international landmark to the next. Acquire a passport full of property stamps and win. Play for free, or unlock unlimited play via in-app purchase.

Carcassonne

Award-winning Carcassonne is a multiplayer game app, based on the 2000 board game named after the famed fortified medieval French town of Carcassonne. Construct a medieval landscape, one tile at a time, connecting roads to roads, fields to fields, and cities to cities. Claim landmarks by placing followers on the tiles, and score points. You can pay $9.99 for the basic game or add expansions that open new areas to you via in-app purchase.

Splendor

Collect gem tokens in Renaissance-era Splendor, a multiplayer game, based on the popular 2014 board game. Find ways to transport them, craftsmen to shape them, and finally, a store to sell them from. Get the most difficult to obtain gems to rack up the most prestige points to win. Splendor, which costs $4.99, offers an extra scenario-based game mode called Challenges, with 48 trials, based on historical events set in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Agricola

The award-winning turn-based Agricola game app, based on the 2007 board game of the same name, puts you in the role of a 17th-century European farmer. Grow your small-scale farm into a bustling business by doing chores around the farm and collecting more resources from town. Whoever has the biggest, most prosperous farm -- meaning, the most crops and animals on the most fields and pastures after six stages and 14 rounds -- wins. Agricola costs $6.99 with additional in-app purchases.

D&D Lords of Waterdeep

Turn-based strategy game D&D Lords of Waterdeep is the $9.99 iOS version of Lords of Waterdeep, a 2012 board game set in Waterdeep, a fictional Dungeons & Dragons city, where players play as the masked lords of Waterdeep. Gain points and resources by sending out agents and hiring adventurers to complete quests, playing Intrigue cards, constructing new buildings, or having other players utilize the buildings you have constructed. Whoever has the most points after eight rounds wins. If you can't get enough of the game, unlock two expansion packs via in-app purchase.